Commonwealth Club: Evan Barker: Nothing Left

Has the Democratic Party lost its soul? Evan Barker says the party she grew up identifying with has been hijacked by out-of-touch activists, coastal elitists, and powerful special interests. She joins us to share her inside story of how she and the Democrats parted ways. Barker had a bright future in Democratic politics. She was a prodigious fundraiser and relentless operator, raising tens of millions of dollars for Democrat candidates. But in August 2024, standing on the floor of the Democratic National Convention, Barker hit her breaking point. In that moment, she says she realized what no one inside the party dared admit: the Democrats had lost their way, and there was no path back. Born into a union family in Kansas City with a rare genetic lung disease, Barker lived and breathed Democrat. The Democratic Party, she believed, was built to help people like her. But as she rose through the ranks, she says she saw a movement obsessed with moral posturing and identity politics rather than with the struggles of ordinary Americans. And when she spoke up, she became a target herself. She tells this story in her new book Nothing Left, in which she reveals a world of donors, strategists, politicians, and activists who run the party. And she tells the story in-person at Commonwealth Club World Affairs.